Spectrum Early Childhood had the opportunity to have a webinar by virtually meeting a group of panels regarding the context of Children, Play and Learn. Joining us on that day were an amazing line-up of panels. The details on the introductions of the panelists will be at the end of this blog. From the context, a fruitful discussion was being able to be talked about from the list of questions such as, What kind of play did you enjoy as a child? Do you consider yourself a playful person? Do you feel that learning should stop due to no physical learning happening at school? Why? How do you motivate your child to participate in our online learning session? How do you keep learning areas/academic and behavior expectations on track at home? How is the transition of the young learners when embarking their journey to Year 1? What more can we do to improve our online learning initiatives? Here, we would like to highlight the context that intrigues the audience hence we received a list of questions from them during the Q & A session before the closure of the webinar.
An introduction on Finnish Way & Spectrum ECE as the opening of the webinar. Finnish is well-known for its emphasis on child-centered instruction and practice. Finnish early childhood education focuses on the value of childhood and the positive development and wellbeing of children and families. It also stresses children’s participation and developing social and cultural skills education. This requires children’s active interaction with peers, teachers, adults, community members, and the environment. Finnish early education helps children build their self-confidence as learners through positive emotional experiences and encourages them to lead play, ask questions and use their imaginations. In Finnish philosophy every child has the right to play, learn through play and enjoy the things they have learned by playing. Playing supports them to form a better understanding of themselves, their identity and the world. In Spectrum ECE, free play is introduced and implemented with the children. It allows the children to play freely, choosing their own games, learning materials and direction of play. It gives them the opportunity to follow their interests, incorporate newly learned skills into their activities, develop their strengths and express themselves. The teacher’s role in free play is to guide, document and participate to further enrich the play environment. We then moved on to the question, How does Spectrum ECE integrate Islamic values with the Finnish way? In Spectrum ECE, there will be a Quran verse/verses that will be introduced to the children according to the monthly themes. We make a conscientious effort to incorporate Islamic behaviour and moral in all of our affairs as we use the teachings in the Quran and Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ( صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم). as our guiding principles. On the other hand, and as in HEI Children are learning all skills and knowledge with PLAY techniques, so why not to apply this philosophy in delivering our Islamic values and Quran teaching, while by integrating this methode our overall goals and objectives were achieved successfully with the majority of the students during the Academic Year 2020/2021. Afterwards, we talked about the famous context in ECE which is How Children Learn? Children want to grow. They are curious and driven to learn about the world around them. They enjoy exploring, experimenting and practicing things. Therefore, it is vital for us to recognize when children have diverse learning needs as every child is entitled to receive guidance and support for learning based on their individual needs. How do we see their needs? We get to know each of them. We observe how each child reacts to new information, listen to what they might or already know, observe and enjoy their individual personalities. With this insight, we can figure out what ways of learning work best for each child. Thus, here comes PLAY. There’s plenty of research done, it shows that play is one of the best learning ways that work best for each child and they gain essential knowledge and skills. According to HEI, play that combines multiple areas of learning allows children to explore their environment, their situation in stimulating ways. Of course while playing it includes children interacting with their environment, friends, and teachers. The core features of emotional development include the ability to identify and understand one’s own feelings, to accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others, to manage strong emotions and their expression in a constructive manner, to regulate one’s own behavior, to develop empathy for others, and to establish and maintain relationships. What is social and emotional development in early childhood? Social-emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others. For example, in a classroom, a group of the five (5) and six (6) year-old children are smiling, laughing, and giggling during free play; they are curious about what happens next during storytime; ask what and why questions while doing hands-on activities; and they use words to express feelings and needs. And you can see in the toy area, two students tried to reach for a small red block. “May I please have it first, then you have it later?” Another student replies, “You have it for five minutes and then I have it for five minutes.” Noticing this exchange, their teacher says, “Both of you are talking about taking turns. What a great way to play together!” The children in the classroom are modelling social and emotional health in Early Childhood context. Children who are socially and emotionally healthy tend to demonstrate and continue to develop several important behaviors and skills. For example, managing emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others. It matters to develop their social and emotional development as those who are emotionally healthy tend to be happier, show greater motivation to learn, have a more positive attitude, and eagerly participate in class activities. It’s the opposite with children who exhibit social and emotional difficulties, which tend to have trouble following directions and participating in learning activities. They may be more likely to suffer rejection by classmates and have low self-esteem. Thus, children’s social and emotional health is just as important as their physical health and affects their capacity to develop and potential to lead a fulfilling life. It was very interesting to hear the insights from the panelists. Another highlight is on How can we help parents to schedule, lessen screen time and more playing to learn? Research has proven that children learn most effectively during play. Play activities support overall development, and enriched play activities are important to deepen children’s learning. Play is also an opportunity for language learning. Although facilitating children’s play is your main priority, you should consciously include language learning whenever possible. For example, you can name items, activities, spaces, and emotions during play and encourage children to do the same. This way, children naturally practice language production in a meaningful way. Due to the current circumstances, COVID-19 pandemic, and online learning models, many children are incorporating more screen time into their school day. That’s why it is crucial to reduce the use of electronics the rest of the day. According to Varadarajan et al. (2021) while screens are a part of today’s culture, there are health benefits related to reducing screen time, including improved physical health, decreased obesity, and more time to play and explore. This is especially true for children spending considerable time learning on computers and tablets. It’s important to use break times to get in some physical activity too. Managing a child’s screen time is challenging for families. According to McArthur, Tough and Madigan (2021) children are never too young for a screen-time plan. Do consider the following as a guideline:
- For children 2-5 years old, limit non-educational screen time (CARTOONS) to about 1 hour per weekday and 3 hours on the weekend days.
- For ages 6 and older, encourage healthy habits and limit activities that include screens.
- Turn off all screens during family meals and outings.
- Learn about and use parental controls.
- Avoid using screens as pacifiers, babysitters, or to stop tantrums.
- Turn off screens and remove them from bedrooms 30-60 minutes before bedtime.
These 6 tips can help you trim children’s screen time:
1. Be accountable; Set expectations with children, and set goals to be intentional about reducing screen time.
2. Be realistic; If your children are spending a lot of leisure time on screens, including watching TV, start by setting smaller, more attainable goals. Instead of jumping right to the recommended one to two hours or less per day, start by cutting their current screen time in half.
3. Be engaged; After school or work, spend time each day talking face to face with children and give them your FULL attention.
4. Put hand-held devices away; During screen-free hours, put devices away or at a charging station in a common area so they’re not attracting your children’s attention.
5. Create phone-free zones in the home; Making family meal areas a phone-free zone is an easy way to start.
6. Physical activities; Putting down the phone and taking a walk or playing outdoors increases both children and families endorphins and provides that feeling of joy in your brain, boosting your mood and improving your physical health.
Panels Details:-
- Ustaz Shady Mohab, with a major in Qur`an`s Sciences (Qira`at) and Business. His role in Spectrum is the Head of Arabic Language, Islamic Studies & Quran, and one of the ECE Board Members with 18 years of experience in the field of education.
“My reasons for choosing Qur`an`s Sciences cannot be counted but some of them are because to be close to Allah and to be one of his own people.The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Allah has His own people among mankind.’ They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, who are they?’ He said: ‘The people of the Qur’an, the people of Allah and those who are closest to Him.’ I found the happiness and the peace while accompanying the Qur`an, that I can not find anytime else. Why about Business? It is to have my own business and to prove to the people that being a specialist in the Qur`an does not contradict with being a successful in the practical life by having a private business. Alhamdulillah, I achieved that as I have my own businesses in Egypt and Malaysia.”
- Mdm Ola El Kabbani, graduate in Bachelor Degree in English Language and Literature, Diploma in English Language and Methodology, Homerton College, Diploma in Educational Leadership and Management. Her role in Spectrum is the Head of the Primary School with 24 years of experience in education.
“ I have had this passion for education and English language since I was a student and couldn’t view my career away from the field of education. I saw English as an important means of communication that can enable me be in touch with people from other countries, so we can share experience and at the same time represent the muslim character as up-to date and having an input in the development of the society.“
- Miss Sarah Alliya, graduate in Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies and Diploma in Islamic Early Childhood Education. Her role in Spectrum is as a HEI & English Teacher in the ECE Department with 5 years of experience.
“Why I chose to be in this field is because of the curiosity that I have towards the children. Throughout my studies and my years at Spectrum School, I was amazed at everything they see and hear, everything we say and do around them has the potential to change the future. That’s why I’m here pursuing my passion to be the best educator or best friend they could ever have.”
- Mdm Almas Faruk, from Maldives and has been living in Malaysia for one and a half year, a mother of three children and a LLB graduate who is a full time stay at home mom.
- Mr. Mohammed Al Amodi, a father of one, from Yemen and currently staying in Indonesia and with the background of Finance.
- Mdm Norfarhana, a Director of Ex Foam Insulation, former journalist at Malaysian National News Agency and a mother of four children.
